Wal-Mart asks Supreme Court to reverse ruling in gender case

[Roland99]

Source: MarketWatch

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. said Wednesday that it's petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn a ruling by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals that a gender discrimination suit can proceed to trial as a class action, potentially exposing the retail giant to billions of dollars in damages.

...

The appeal comes in a case filed in 2001 in a San Francisco federal court by a woman who claimed she had been a victim of gender discrimination while working at Wal-Mart. The suit alleged Wal-Mart engaged in a pattern and practice of discriminating against women in promotions, pay, training and job assignments.

Wal-Mart has said in its annual filing that a class action status and any subsequent negative verdict could be "material" to its financial condition or results of operations.

The trial judge granted a request by plaintiff's lawyers to certify the case as a class action, with the class being every woman employed for any period of time over the past decade in any of Wal-Mart's 3,400 stores. Wal-Mart estimated in the petition that upholding the class certification could make more than 1.5 million former and current female employees eligible to seek damages under Title VII of Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Read more: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/wal-mart-asks-supreme-court-to-overturn-ruling-2010-08-25

[Angry Dragon]

1. What a big cry baby

They are saying that just because they discriminated and it might cost them tons of money they should be protected.

I guess if you are a large corporation, if it going to cost them money, they should be protected by different laws

[AlbertCat]

2. could make more than 1.5 million former and current female employees eligible to seek damages under

So.... they're guilty?

[madmom]

3. Poor walmart....will the conservative SCOTUS help their corporate cronies?...stay tuned.

[SoapBox]

5. Well of course they will!

...with the court stacked with the Activist Judges (with their minds already made
up on everything), they will help out Wal-do-mart.

Of course!

Oh and I'm sure they will just say, the hell with workers...and the hell with women.

I can see that coming.

[KansDem]

8. Maybe they'll issue one of their special rulings

You know, the kind that they request are not to be used as precedent, like in Bush v. Gore.

[ProudDad]

10. At the rate this SCOTUS is going

they're liable to decide that the 14th and 19th Amendments are "Unconstitutional" and let Mal-Wart completely off the hook...

Hell, they've already given the fuckin' Waltons the keys to the Congress...

[ladywnch]

4. If walmart asks, SCOTUS will dutifully comply. n/t

[Scuba]

6. I predict a 5-4 decision in favor of WalMart.

[Critters2]

7. +1 nt

[Jamastiene]

9. Guess we know how that one is going to turn out already, don't we? n/t

[mike r]

11. The corporate lawyer John Roberts will take good care of them

Rest assured of that.

[lunasun]

12. It is good to have friends in high places help you out when you're in trouble!!

[JustAnotherGen]

13. It's not just wal-mart

This opens the door for many MANY women. One element at stake in this case?

Making an employer PROVE to you that you aren't qualified. One of the women in this case? She was passed over by a teen age boy - time after time after time.

A grown woman with working experience.

Not given a promotion along with increased pay so that a teenage BOY could be moved ahead of her.

Now - it MIGHT have been JUST that one store . . . or it might be many.


But imagine - if female employees at AT & T, VzW, IBM, Xerox (I hear what's left in Rochester is a nightmare) - this opens the door.


And by the way - I still have the former male employee that reported to me? I have his salary sheet. The one that made 9K more than me . . .

[apnu]

14. "... annual filing" !? You mean they file this on an annual basis?

:wtf: